Reliving Memories
by Kristen3
Summary: After a fight with Daphne, Niles goes on a drive to clear his head. Will the memories of their love story make him realize how lucky he is? Post-series one-shot. Rating is for slight profanity.


Niles awoke with a start. He looked beside him. Daphne was sound asleep. Normally, he would wake her with a kiss. That would begin a session of lovemaking, or even just quiet talking in the dark. He considered doing that now, but quickly decided against it. Things between them were strained, to say the least. Baby David had been sick lately, making Daphne stressed and irritable. To make matters worse, Niles' caseload had suddenly exploded.

With a sigh, Niles rose from the bed. He knew she was angry with him. Right before they'd gone to bed, she'd yelled at him, accusing him of deliberately staying at work to avoid dealing with his son. Much to his regret, Niles hadn't had the energy to even try to defend himself. Suddenly, he felt the need to get out of the house. He quickly threw his clothes back on and scrawled a note to Daphne. As he walked down to the parking garage, Niles knew he had no clue where he was headed. But a drive would surely clear his head. If it hadn't been so late, he might have made a long-distance call to Frasier to talk things out.

He got behind the wheel, feeling relieved to at least be away from home and away from Daphne. It felt strange to think that, after all the years he'd spent, desperately wanting to be with her. How had things gotten here? He shook his head as he put the car into drive. Soon he was out on the road. He'd never seen the streets of Seattle so deserted. But, then, most people were asleep at this hour. Niles wondered where he could go. He thought about Elliot Bay Towers, then remembered his father and brother didn't live there anymore. He could go to his father's house. Martin and Ronee would certainly take him in, despite the late hour. But they needed their rest. Before Niles could have another thought, he saw something flashing on his dashboard. He glanced down, and felt his heart stop. His gas gauge was almost on "E"! "What the hell?!" Niles asked aloud. He _always_ made sure to get gas whenever his tank hit a quarter. It was all he could do to get to the shoulder. The car stopped then, officially out of gas. "Great, now what?" He reached for his phone, preparing to call Daphne. But he put it down, realizing she might not be awake. A call from her husband at this hour, telling her he was stranded, would only make things worse.

As he sat there, wondering what he could do, his mind began to wander. Memories suddenly flashed in his mind, like the day he'd first walked into Frasier's and was introduced to his father's new physical therapist. He could still remember the way she'd smiled at him, and how smitten he'd been, right from the moment they shook hands. The next few years were a blur. Niles had taken every opportunity to glance at Daphne's backside, all the while keeping his feeling a secret. His troubled marriage to Maris eventually fell apart. He'd been terribly hurt to discover that his wife had been having an affair with their marriage counselor.

As awful as that was, it had finally made him begin divorce proceedings. Not long after that, he met attorney Donny Douglas. Donny's legal skills quickly got the case resolved. But just when things were looking up for Niles, everything came crashing down. While Donny had been working on Niles' divorce, he fell in love with Daphne. Before anyone knew it, he was proposing to her. That, Niles knew, was the lowest point of his life. The months following weren't much better. Niles slowly came to terms with the fact that he'd missed his chance with Daphne.

Things took another turn when Niles met the lovely and successful Dr. Melinda Karnofsky. She became a distraction for Niles, a way to forget his feelings for Daphne. Shortly before Daphne and Donny were going to tie knot, Mel talked Niles into eloping. Niles hadn't known it at the time, but Daphne became aware of Niles' feelings. Things came to a head the night before the wedding. After a kiss on the balcony, Daphne still could not bring herself to call off the ceremony.

Niles felt tears in his eyes as he remembered sitting in the Winnebago. Daphne was just moments away from saying "I do" to Donny. Not only that, but Niles was, once again, trapped in a loveless marriage.

 _God, why did I have to remember all of this_? Niles wondered. His heart was breaking all over again. Just when he was about to recall the moment Daphne came to him, telling him she'd changed her mind, Niles heard a sound. He looked out the window of his car, and did a double-take. It was Daphne!

Niles got out of the car. "What are you doing here?!" He hugged her close, feeling as if he hadn't seen her in years.

"I got your note. I went out looking for you. David's in the car," she said, pointing to her vehicle behind them.

"Daphne, I am so sorry. For everything." Niles pulled her to him once again.

"I'm sorry, too," Daphne said, kissing him. "I guess we've both made mistakes."

Niles nodded. He knew the majority of the blame was his. "I should've seen how stressed out you were. I know it isn't easy taking care of David day after day."

"Well, I won't argue with that." Daphne laughed. In the past few days, she'd spent countless hours trying everything she could think of to get the baby to stop crying. But, even so, David was a miracle. Somehow, she'd forgotten that. Not to mention the fact that Niles' salary allowed her to be a stay-at-home mom. "I shouldn't have gotten so cross with you. You work hard for the two of us."

"I'm sorry that my work took me away," Niles said. "I think maybe I _was_ trying to avoid things a little. I'm no good with babies, especially not sick ones."

"That's rubbish," Daphne said emphatically. "I know that David loves you. I've seen you read him a story, and I can tell how much he enjoys your company."

Niles kissed her again, grateful beyond words for how things worked out. Then he remembered where they were. On the side of a highway in the middle of nowhere. "Maybe we should go back home," he said. "But we can't move my car. It's apparently out of gas."

Daphne looked at him in confusion. "What? You're always so careful."

"I know," Niles said, shaking his head. He'd guessed perhaps he hadn't noticed the tank had gotten low, but now he wondered if there was some other reason.

"Well, we can ride back in my car. We'll deal with this in the morning," Daphne said, slipping her hand into his.

As Niles followed his wife to the car, he smiled. Yes, it certainly was lucky he'd run out of gas when he did.

 **The End**


End file.
